Minor changes - added Japanese support and fixed a few bugs.
Still working on OAuth and additional concepts, but no time for major work at the moment.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
OpenBox S10 Satellite Receiver
In summary: don't buy one .. read on for details.
Well I've ditched Sky .. was too expensive and the programming wasn't working for me (for the money). So I'm on the hunt again for a cheap satellite (terrestrial no good for me due to hills) receiver with PVR and EPG. So .. hunting around the Openbox S10 looks to to have the specs on paper (ethernet in, 1080i, usb pvr) .. all good.
Well almost.
Problems to date:
1. Lip Sync issues .. still working on a resolution
2. Record function has .. Once and Daily .. WTF? No weekly?
3. Recording locks the channel - limited to one transponder. OK so I should have checked the number of receivers/tunes, etc.
4. Recording output is a .dvr .. urg, yet to try conversion tools or playback as-is on laptop. Will update.
Still to test:
1. Ethernet - worryingly I can't see anything that looks like web-browsing capability on the menus. But I don't have it cabled so they may be disabled atm - will update.
2. Time-shift and proper / more extensive PVR to USB disk capability
Well I've ditched Sky .. was too expensive and the programming wasn't working for me (for the money). So I'm on the hunt again for a cheap satellite (terrestrial no good for me due to hills) receiver with PVR and EPG. So .. hunting around the Openbox S10 looks to to have the specs on paper (ethernet in, 1080i, usb pvr) .. all good.
Well almost.
Problems to date:
1. Lip Sync issues .. still working on a resolution
2. Record function has .. Once and Daily .. WTF? No weekly?
3. Recording locks the channel - limited to one transponder. OK so I should have checked the number of receivers/tunes, etc.
4. Recording output is a .dvr .. urg, yet to try conversion tools or playback as-is on laptop. Will update.
Still to test:
1. Ethernet - worryingly I can't see anything that looks like web-browsing capability on the menus. But I don't have it cabled so they may be disabled atm - will update.
2. Time-shift and proper / more extensive PVR to USB disk capability
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Android OAuth experimentation
In searching for some sample OAuth client implementations in Android I came across Implementing the OAuth Flow in Android.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Android 2.3.4 SIP stack disconnects?
Now that I've moved to NDSL and VOIP for calling I can (via Trixbox) route all inbound calls to a calling group including everyone connected (i.e. everyones Android mobile sip client + the analogue phone via a Linksys / Cisco SPA2102).
That said some I found the Android SIP stack very limiting in that calls drop sounds and then disconnect after a short period of time (maybe 30s - 1 minute). Hunting the Internet I find mention of similar problems with links to resolution [1]. Something to try in the next few days (will update if it resolves my problem).
[1] http://forum.sipsorcery.com/viewtopic.php?t=3029&p=18029#p18098
That said some I found the Android SIP stack very limiting in that calls drop sounds and then disconnect after a short period of time (maybe 30s - 1 minute). Hunting the Internet I find mention of similar problems with links to resolution [1]. Something to try in the next few days (will update if it resolves my problem).
[1] http://forum.sipsorcery.com/viewtopic.php?t=3029&p=18029#p18098
Migrating to Naked DSL + VOIP
Been a bit quiet lately but some major changes at home to tackle the phone / Internet bills (going down to 1 income has it's issues). Phone line ported to 2talk.co.nz which worked out very sweet. Loving the ability to control calls as and when needed, etc.
So along with 2talk 10 ($10 /month package) we're taking up snap.net.nz's offer for $55 5GB base plan with $2 /month all you eat Google+Youtube.com. Worth a crack. Also by dropping my cell package down a notch I've almosty halved the comms bill. Will update with progress.
So along with 2talk 10 ($10 /month package) we're taking up snap.net.nz's offer for $55 5GB base plan with $2 /month all you eat Google+Youtube.com. Worth a crack. Also by dropping my cell package down a notch I've almosty halved the comms bill. Will update with progress.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
ZTE V9 (TNZ V9)
My review of the ZTE V9 tablet running Android 2.1-update1 ($399 with accessories bundle).
I'll be honest my initial thought when I bought it was: I'll play with it, out of the normal kinda financial validation process, then quietly forget about it when I run out of excuses to use it. But to date that's not the case - the v9 tablet has found it's place as a shared device hanging out in the lounge, kitchen or bedside table (more on the shared bit later).
It's pretty good for the money - lets face it even if it became a white elephant it's not awful money for a 7" wifi photo frame (though I haven't found a perfect flickr photoframe app yet - certainly not a free one that supports Flickr auth, etc). But for 5-10 kiwi pesos I'm sure I can find something adequate here.
Beyond that it is a functioning eBook reader and web browser - although for me the web browsing experience is a little 50/50.
So all good - well almost, there are some serious gripes. Namely:
In the end the biggest disappointment is actually found in the accessories bundle (itself actually reasonable value). The leather wallet simply does not work as supplied. As it is touch sensitive screen the holes for 'Home', 'Menu' and 'Back' are confused when you try and poke a finger through. You succeed only in closing whatever app you are in ... to the point where you have to remove the leather pouch and continue. Mine now sits gathering dust. Interestingly the resistive touch screen is actually working for me, it's easy to wipe down and feels robust exposed to the elements ;).
An accessory I would prefer is a leather folder with edge holders and simple velcro .. the proporta.com one I have for my Nokia n800 is gold ;) .. Another accessory for the tablet would be a car headrest pouch .. instance movie player, game console, navigation unit for the little / big people in the back of the car.
Getting back to the device itself and that 'shared device' notion - there is a catch. The way Android works, with Google's tie in, is that you hook the device up to a Google account. Changing the account wipes the device clean .. apps and all. Hmm - problem, I don't necessarily want to be signed in all the time especially if the device is used by multiple parties. I can see a strong need for multi-user OS support for tablets. With a standard desktop style authentication but better yet the ability to recognise different unlock patterns (thus making it even easier to hack .. hmm, anyway .. moving on) . Even if they are cheap in the era of cloud computing buying 5 of them when you really only need 1 in the house is not a valid work around IMHO. Although I'm sure that's what everyone thought about telephones in the good old days.
So in conclusion - an interesting first foray into the world of tablets for me. I must admit, I now see their place in the portable device spectrum. Furthermore, the ZTE V9 is a credible device for the money. The potential to upgrade it and the likely improvements to 3rd party software for tablets mean it could be a worthwhile punt if you're curious to see what all the fuss is about. My pick is you won't be left with a white elephant. This is supported by other online review - check the Optus ZTE V9 Pre-Paid Tablet Review , 4-5 stars and highly recommended.
I'll be honest my initial thought when I bought it was: I'll play with it, out of the normal kinda financial validation process, then quietly forget about it when I run out of excuses to use it. But to date that's not the case - the v9 tablet has found it's place as a shared device hanging out in the lounge, kitchen or bedside table (more on the shared bit later).
It's pretty good for the money - lets face it even if it became a white elephant it's not awful money for a 7" wifi photo frame (though I haven't found a perfect flickr photoframe app yet - certainly not a free one that supports Flickr auth, etc). But for 5-10 kiwi pesos I'm sure I can find something adequate here.
Beyond that it is a functioning eBook reader and web browser - although for me the web browsing experience is a little 50/50.
- 800x480 is really too small (involves horizontal scroll)
- browser support for 'near', 'far' zoom settings is cool but the screen resolution is not really up to it
- confusion over default recognition as phone v desktop .. some sites mobile is better others desktop (browsers with easy toggle on toolbar win here).
So all good - well almost, there are some serious gripes. Namely:
- Lack of decent video conferencing software (why else have a camera front + back .. oh just for photos .. bugger)
- With only 2.1 I can't install apps on SD card (there are a lot more apps I would use on a tablet than on my phone .. filled internal memory on day 1)
- No flash - sadly this cripples some websites (a good reason for youTube app not just mobile web or maybe just flame 2degrees for their top-up site not working on it ;)
- I haven't got multi-touch working on any apps (maybe try Dolphin browser?)
- Selecting the notification bar and 'pulling down' is not easy for some reason (no matter how many times I re-run the calibration).
In the end the biggest disappointment is actually found in the accessories bundle (itself actually reasonable value). The leather wallet simply does not work as supplied. As it is touch sensitive screen the holes for 'Home', 'Menu' and 'Back' are confused when you try and poke a finger through. You succeed only in closing whatever app you are in ... to the point where you have to remove the leather pouch and continue. Mine now sits gathering dust. Interestingly the resistive touch screen is actually working for me, it's easy to wipe down and feels robust exposed to the elements ;).
An accessory I would prefer is a leather folder with edge holders and simple velcro .. the proporta.com one I have for my Nokia n800 is gold ;) .. Another accessory for the tablet would be a car headrest pouch .. instance movie player, game console, navigation unit for the little / big people in the back of the car.
Getting back to the device itself and that 'shared device' notion - there is a catch. The way Android works, with Google's tie in, is that you hook the device up to a Google account. Changing the account wipes the device clean .. apps and all. Hmm - problem, I don't necessarily want to be signed in all the time especially if the device is used by multiple parties. I can see a strong need for multi-user OS support for tablets. With a standard desktop style authentication but better yet the ability to recognise different unlock patterns (thus making it even easier to hack .. hmm, anyway .. moving on) . Even if they are cheap in the era of cloud computing buying 5 of them when you really only need 1 in the house is not a valid work around IMHO. Although I'm sure that's what everyone thought about telephones in the good old days.
So in conclusion - an interesting first foray into the world of tablets for me. I must admit, I now see their place in the portable device spectrum. Furthermore, the ZTE V9 is a credible device for the money. The potential to upgrade it and the likely improvements to 3rd party software for tablets mean it could be a worthwhile punt if you're curious to see what all the fuss is about. My pick is you won't be left with a white elephant. This is supported by other online review - check the Optus ZTE V9 Pre-Paid Tablet Review , 4-5 stars and highly recommended.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Useful Android test things
Using the emulator to use the camera required an SD card and I also need to push location details. Both were achieved by:
eos:~/android/sdk/tools$ ./mksdcard 1024M mySdCardFile.img
eos:~/android/sdk/tools$ ./emulator -port 5554 -avd My_AVD_1.5 -sdcard mySdCardFile.img &
eos:~/android/sdk/tools$ telnet localhost 5554
OK
geo fix -41.3 174.773233
OK
The only problem is that the Location getTime() and getAccuracy() calls were not as expected for a live phone so also implemented the following:
EMULATOR = ( Settings.Secure.getString(this.getContentResolver(),
android.provider.Settings.Secure.ANDROID_ID) == null );
eos:~/android/sdk/tools$ ./mksdcard 1024M mySdCardFile.img
eos:~/android/sdk/tools$ ./emulator -port 5554 -avd My_AVD_1.5 -sdcard mySdCardFile.img &
eos:~/android/sdk/tools$ telnet localhost 5554
OK
geo fix -41.3 174.773233
OK
The only problem is that the Location getTime() and getAccuracy() calls were not as expected for a live phone so also implemented the following:
EMULATOR = ( Settings.Secure.getString(this.getContentResolver(),
android.provider.Settings.Secure.ANDROID_ID) == null );
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